James Gunn says he nearly killed off a major character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Marvel executives talked the director out of doing so
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.James Gunn almost killed off a major character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 before Marvel executives persuaded him against it.
Though the character – Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora – eventually met their demise a year later in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, the director said he was “talked out of” his original plan by Marvel Studio president Kevin Feige and executive producer Louis D’Esposito.
“Gamora almost died in Vol 2,” Gunn revealed in a recent interview with ComicBook.com.
“I knew from the beginning Zoe only wanted to play the character for so many years, and she’s been very honest saying that she’s done [after this]. And so I was going to have her die.”
He continued: “I thought she was the one that was going to sacrifice herself… I was kind of talked out of it by Kevin and Louis and then it just didn’t work that well. It didn’t feel right. It felt much more right to go where we go in that movie. That seemed what was correct for the story.”
Ultimately it was Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) death that replaced Gamora’s intended Vol 2 fate.
Gunn admitted that his close friendship with Rooker made him “afraid” of killing off Yondu, “but that was where the story naturally progressed to”.
He then recalled his conversation with Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo, in which they discussed their plan of killing Gamora.
“They called me up and said, ‘We’re thinking about this, does this work? Can you work with this?’ And I went, ‘Got it, yeah. I really can,’” Gunn said.
However, while Gamora dies in the 2018 film, an alternate version of her appears in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and will feature in the Guardians trilogy’s final movie Vol 3.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 releases in cinemas on 5 May. Read The Independent’s four-star review of the movie here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments